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Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Originally Posted by Josef K.

I recommend you read what others have said about it, as well as a general review around his philosophy. It can be difficult with Spinoza, he is one of the philosophers-scientists, which are harder to understand for me since the ones that have a more artsy aspect to their writing(Plato, Nietzsche) are more understandable to me.

Read up on the history of the period he is writing in, historical conditions, religion, Holland at the time and so on.

Oh, thanks for comment (=
I know. His way of explaining things is painfully tough to follow. Erasmus, Plato or even the extreme existentialist touch of Sartre isn't this difficult to understand.
I will begin reading Goethe's Faust soon. I plan on re-reading the first two books of Ethics later on, but it should wait, as rushing things will not make any good. I need to read deeper into that when I have time.

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Reading Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson, and it's mindblowing....wow, I haven't had such an awesome fantasy ride, since Song of Ice and Fire maybe...the 3rd book is......

I recommend it to any fantasy fan...military, politics, wondrous world...it's just, so rich and well written in every aspect...my knowledge extends to the first 3 books only though, but I wholly recommend the entire series, since I can't possibly imagine a decline in quality

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Oh god that book. That series, along with ASOIAF and The Dark Tower books were the only three major series I gave up on. I just cant trudge through them. I know they are meant to be good but I just never got into them. Which book are you on?

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Reading Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson, and it's mindblowing....wow, I haven't had such an awesome fantasy ride, since Song of Ice and Fire maybe...the 3rd book is......

I recommend it to any fantasy fan...military, politics, wondrous world...it's just, so rich and well written in every aspect...my knowledge extends to the first 3 books only though, but I wholly recommend the entire series, since I can't possibly imagine a decline in quality

I started Gardens of the Moon and I was really into it... but I already was on a reading spree.. it was like my 6th book of the week, so I had to stop since I had some tests coming on uni.
I have to pick it up again!

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Reading Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson, and it's mindblowing....wow, I haven't had such an awesome fantasy ride, since Song of Ice and Fire maybe...the 3rd book is......

I recommend it to any fantasy fan...military, politics, wondrous world...it's just, so rich and well written in every aspect...my knowledge extends to the first 3 books only though, but I wholly recommend the entire series, since I can't possibly imagine a decline in quality

I may have to give those another try. I made it through the first book (Gardens of the Moon), and enjoyed it quite a bit, but only made it a quarter of the way through the second (Deadhouse Gates). Didn't really like it so I set it down and just never picked it back up. I've heard the third book was amazing but I just couldn't get there.

Originally Posted by Imperium

Oh god that book. That series, along with ASOIAF and Step The Dark Tower books were the only three major series I gave up on. I just cant trudge through them. I know they are meant to be good but I just never got into them. Which book are you on?

They are pretty dense and switch character perspectives a TON. What made me hit the wall though was when they swapped up the entire cast of the first book for an almost entirely new cast in the second book. Didn't find myself particularly drawn to any of the new people so that was as far as I got.

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Originally Posted by Imperium

Oh god that book. That series, along with ASOIAF and The Dark Tower books were the only three major series I gave up on. I just cant trudge through them. I know they are meant to be good but I just never got into them. Which book are you on?

4th...House of Chains...

And I understand the feeling somewhat...Gardens of the Moon was such a slow read...I just didn't understand some of the terms, I couldn't even decipher if something was a person's name, a city name, or a people...the concept of magic warrens was strange and complicated at first too...and the plot lines are just too far away to make sense out of them in the beginning...

Well you get it...it's a slow and sometimes frustrating read, but when it starts to unravel and pieces are falling into their places...it's just awesome...

I started Gardens of the Moon and I was really into it... but I already was on a reading spree.. it was like my 6th book of the week, so I had to stop since I had some tests coming on uni.
I have to pick it up again!

I don't think exams will slow me down...which has been my curse for some years now

I may have to give those another try. I made it through the first book (Gardens of the Moon), and enjoyed it quite a bit, but only made it a quarter of the way through the second (Deadhouse Gates). Didn't really like it so I set it down and just never picked it back up. I've heard the third book was amazing but I just couldn't get there.

Well...the thing is that the 1st and the 3rd are the ones that make up one of the story arcs...the 2nd is part of an entirely different plot line, that only gets some mentioning in the 3rd book...the 2nd book and the 3rd book occur in the same time period...

So the 3rd book is the one that continues the 1st one and the 4th book...well let's just say that it tackles the plot line from the 2nd...the timelines are complicated, and I arrived to a part where it's a bit confusing for me now...and besides it would be a spoiler if I would elaborate...but I know for sure that these separate plot lines will eventually meet somewhere or have something in common...

I would draw the comparison between the story arcs of this series and manga story arcs...in the way that there is a conclusion of a story arc when it ends, but there are still underlying and common elements between the story arcs...

Anyways...it's true about the 3rd book...it is indeed amazing...and you can skip the 2nd book if you want...1st and 3rd book should be read first...

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Well, the problem was that the books were slowing me down on college... I'm kind of compulsive, when I start a book that I like I read it for 16+ hours, sleep like 4 hours per night... it's a mess if you have tests

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Originally Posted by TheMoa

Well, the problem was that the books were slowing me down on college... I'm kind of compulsive, when I start a book that I like I read it for 16+ hours, sleep like 4 hours per night... it's a mess if you have tests

Yeah I know, since I'm the same...I did finish the first 3 in 2 weeks after all, and the 1st book was a damn slow and frustrating read at first...

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Originally Posted by benelori

Well...the thing is that the 1st and the 3rd are the ones that make up one of the story arcs...the 2nd is part of an entirely different plot line, that only gets some mentioning in the 3rd book...the 2nd book and the 3rd book occur in the same time period...

So the 3rd book is the one that continues the 1st one and the 4th book...well let's just say that it tackles the plot line from the 2nd...the timelines are complicated, and I arrived to a part where it's a bit confusing for me now...and besides it would be a spoiler if I would elaborate...but I know for sure that these separate plot lines will eventually meet somewhere or have something in common...

I would draw the comparison between the story arcs of this series and manga story arcs...in the way that there is a conclusion of a story arc when it ends, but there are still underlying and common elements between the story arcs...

Anyways...it's true about the 3rd book...it is indeed amazing...

Good ol' complicated reading orders.

I have a question though. In your judgement is it necessary to read the 2nd book before the 3rd (or at all)? Because I do not want to finish that thing if I can avoid it. I know it's the beginning of a story thread and all but....

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Originally Posted by Jammin

Good ol' complicated reading orders.

I have a question though. In your judgement is it necessary to read the 2nd book before the 3rd (or at all)? Because I do not want to finish that thing if I can avoid it. I know it's the beginning of a story thread and all but....

Not at all...the two story threads are way too distant at the moment, so in a sense the 2nd book has no relevance on the 1st and 3rd books at all...so it's okay to skip the 2nd...I would even advise to do that, now that I know what happens...

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Finished the entire Malazan series, from both authors, now I'm waiting for their new entries in the series...but the main series The Book of the Fallen ended...and it was......I have to say this series was the best reading journeys I had in a very long time...the world and its characters, and the conclusion were are soo good...

Now I'm taking on Glenn Cook's Black Company, since I've read that they might be on par in some aspects of the writing and tone...here's for hoping that it's true

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Just finished Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. He's a gifted author and this is a really good book. Its' the first of a planned 10 book series and if anything it reminded me of the WoT series. Good writing, good cast and a exciting world. The magic system is still not fully defined or original as I hope, but its still the first book so I'll give it time.

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

Originally Posted by Imperium

Just finished Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. He's a gifted author and this is a really good book. Its' the first of a planned 10 book series and if anything it reminded me of the WoT series. Good writing, good cast and a exciting world. The magic system is still not fully defined or original as I hope, but its still the first book so I'll give it time.

*.* I purchased that book like a week go! I have still yet to start reading it but rest assured I'll place it as a priority when I get some more free time.

I started reading the Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern recently and I'm enjoying it so far. Too early for me to say anything concrete about the story but it's a fun and light read that has gained my curiosity. The author seems to have a habit of repeating a bunch words though which you can easily identify and recall mentally when you're reading it. I guess you can call it a slight irritation but it hasn't stopped my interest in the story itself. =]

Re: The Great Books! ( And What Are You Currently Reading? )

I bought Sun Tzu's Art of War- I'd always coveted it for years. I don't know why. Thought all great people read it, and thus, to become great I had to read it. But maybe now that I'm trying to read the first few pages Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings was the better option???